


Stray

by Letters_to_Somebody



Category: Fake AH crew - Fandom, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 06:13:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19351129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Letters_to_Somebody/pseuds/Letters_to_Somebody
Summary: Ray had broken into his first house solo, and it just so happen to belong to a cop. it was just the way Ray's luck was going these days





	Stray

**Author's Note:**

> Another one from the Tumblr vault

Ray could see the lines on his face, the sleepy long-gone haze in his eyes. Ray could feel the tension he carried around with him, the knowledge of how terrible people were; it drained a person of their faith. Ray wondered if the tall man leaned towards a faith, if he held anything above the law. Ray wondered if he was going to pull the trigger on his cold gun or let the metal bite further into Ray’s skull. 

In and out. 

The breathing was heavy, like the man before him had just run a marathon. 

Panting. 

Ray wondered if the man with the weapon was afraid, did he really see Ray as a threat. 

Ray’s hands were getting numb from staying up by his ears, he was too afraid to move though. He was too afraid to take another step even though it was all he wanted, “Fucking pull it,” Ray encouraged the man, the walls decorated behind him with shiny badges in cases. Noticeable police merits. 

Heavy breathing, in and out. 

The man standing before Ray was stealing all the air in the room for himself. Ray didn’t mind; he could have all of it, he could take Ray’s, “Please,” Ray’s voice pierced the silence, “Pull it.” 

The man’s dark eyes shifted -if only for a second- away from Ray to the floor. Ray thought he could feel the man’s grip on the gun loosen. His breathing was going back to normal, that wasn’t what Ray wanted.

Risking it all Ray moved his hands from the position near his head to around the man’s wrists; he closed his own dark eyes, “Pull it!” Ray’s voice rang through the dark room. 

Ray had felt the man tense like a cobra every muscle taunt; Ray expected death. Instead the man ripped from Ray’s weak grip and Ray slowly opened his eyes as the lights came on. Ray was now staring at a man with pale skin standing in his boxers, his hair dark and messy, Ray had just woken him. The man was taller than Ray thought, and his chest was moving rapidly though Ray could tell he was trying to control himself. Still frozen Ray stood watching the man’s shoulders fall as he rubbed his hand over his face, the gun now glinting by his side. 

“Kid,” The man sighed, “What are you doing here?” 

How did one give their shitty life story to a stranger? “Ray.” His name was his answer. 

The man leaned against the wall, “Joel.” His answer a confusing echo, “Now what are you doing here?” 

Joel asked too many questions, “Failing at my first break in attempt apparently.” Ray shrugged with a smirk.

“First?” Joel didn’t find the humor in the event, “You going to be trying this again?” 

“Not if you stop me,” Ray still stood awkwardly at gun point. 

Joel’s sigh was just as drawn and tired as his face looked, “You do realize you made a big mistake, right?”

Ray silently plead the fifth. He could feel his own breathing pick up, but he remained stony silence. 

“Do you have a number I can call?” Joel tried again, “Someone that can get you? It doesn’t look like you drove here.”

Ray said nothing eyeing the window he had haphazardly climbed in through. Joel had left it open, Ray imagined him to be the type of person who would furiously sweat without the slight night breeze; was he sweating now? Ray wondered if he could have made out the beads on his brow if he had played more attention; Ray silently cursed himself. 

“Ray,” Joel’s tone had changed from concerned to what Ray assumed was his job voice. This was Ray’s interrogation. 

“Just wanted to borrow some sugar,” Ray keept it light.

Joel shook his head, “Try again.”

“What do you want from me Joel?” the name felt weird on Rays tongue.

“You fucking broke into my house!” Joel had snapped. 

Ray hung his head listening to Joel’s thousandth sigh of the very short long night they were both a part of. 

Ray wasn’t used to cuffs unlike some of the people he hung out with, maybe he could tell Joel it was a dare; maybe he could dare Joel to shoot him again. Joel had dressed in a flash; Ray barely had time to release a breath before Joel was downstairs buttoning the last button on his starched shirt. Next thing Ray knew he had two brand new matching bracelets. Ray jingled the metal; it felt different from the gun that had been sitting between his eyes. He wasn’t trying to escape; he had no reason to. The lights on the car were flashing lighting up the dark world in red and blue as Joel sped down streets to the police station. 

Sitting in a room with cemented bricks exposed, a wall of mirrored glass, and a caged window; still better than home. 

Various people came in trying to talk to Ray on his level, they tried to say they understood; Ray knew so much better. By the end of each conversation the officers were pinching the bridges of their noses and Ray would still say nothing as they left. The last guy had started beating his hands against the table making Ray flinch slightly. In that instant Joel strolled in relieving the officer like some kind of hero coming to Ray’s aid. 

They said nothing for a long moment, Joel leaned back in his chair sipping a cup of coffee and Ray played with the strings of his hoodie. Ray was afraid to swallow in the deep silence afraid it would echo around the walls and ruin the seconds. This was the most peaceful Ray’s felt for days.  
Joel shifted in his metal chair, his clothes ruffling as he did so, and Ray knew his time of peace was over. Joel cleared his throat. 

“Just tell me one thing.” 

Ray knew it was never just one thing.

“I know it’s hard for everyone right now. Having trouble finding work after college? Tight with money?” Joel asked leaning on the table. 

Ray said nothing for a second, “I’m not really into the whole job thing to be honest. School never sat that well with me either,” his smirk was bright.  
Again, Joel was not looking pleased with Ray’s answers; tough crowd. 

Joel undid Ray’s handcuffs, which seemed like a promising start, before escorting Ray back through the police station to the squad car. Ray was positive he was about to be thrown into the system he had been dreading for years; the system he always just managed to avoid. He leaned his head against the window; the lights weren’t bathing the world this time. 

To his surprise Joel turned the car into his own driveway, a house Ray barley remembered, just another score. Joel said nothing parking the car and getting out of the driver’s seat; Ray followed unsure of his next move. 

Joel continued walking in a sleepy trance right up the stairs and into his bedroom closing the door leaving Ray in the front entrance. Was he supposed to leave? Was Joel letting him off the hook? Was it some kind of trap? 

Rays breathing picked up as his head scanned around and he tapped the toe of his shoe to the ground. Door creaking made Ray’s head snap up towards the top of the stairs where Joel had disappeared. Ray tensed, his breathing stopped. 

A lanky Joel in a familiar set of boxers yawned finger pointing down the hall, “There’s a bed up here if you want it.” 

Ray didn’t sleep much that night, it wasn’t the beds fault, it was like a cloud; it was his fault. He tossed and turned switching between nightmares and years of distrust about his surroundings. Sharing a house with a cop, had he gone insane? Any minute he expected to wake up from this crazy dream, he felt like he’d been sleeping for a long time and the alarm clock had to go off any minute now. 

The room became lighter as the sun rose and Ray watched the walls wake up with the rest of the world. He didn’t move except to pull the blanket over his head when he heard a knock on the door. Ray ignored it listening to footsteps going back and forth down the hall, up the stairs, down the stairs; until another door opened and then he heard nothing. Joel must have left for work. Ray forced himself out of bed opening the bedroom door a crack looking at a bowl of slightly soggy cereal and a cup of orange juice at his feet. 

He ate slowly. 

Ray left the bowl and cup outside before lying back in his spot on the bed. He watched the same wall all day; it went from bright to dark. Joel got home; Ray heard the door open downstairs as the wall got darker. There was another knock on the bedroom door and Ray saw a plate of spaghetti accompanied by soda. On the second day Ray found pancakes at his door, on the third a warm toaster strudel. He couldn’t stop the smile forming on his lips; each dish was paired with a glass of orange juice. Dinner was along the lines of a hamburger and more left over spaghetti. After clearing the plates and laying back down Ray wondered if this was just a nicer version of jail as he examined the walls. 

Day four slowly rolled around and when Ray opened the white bedroom door Joel stood there leaning against the frame in a t shirt and baggy jeans. It was a surprise to Ray. 

“We’re going out,” Joel said before walking away.

Ray left the house trading in watching the same walls in a bed for a booth in a diner. He wore borrowed clothes except for his purple hoodie; he kept the hood up along with his shoulders out of habit. Joel didn’t say a word about Ray’s hood up preference; he was glad that this time Joel didn’t come with questions. 

Breakfast went smoothly with no complaints from Ray, it had good food that filled his stomach, and Joel wasn’t as sleepy and boring as he seemed. They chatted, missing subjects like Ray’s past which was a huge plus. When it came to a close Ray didn’t really want to go back home, Joel took him out to get new clothes and asked what Ray liked to eat. Joel asked about school and Ray shrugged, he really didn’t go and that’s all there was to it. He was never bothered about it afterward; Joel was catching on quickly; Ray didn’t just give out information. 

Ray moved from his place on the bed to the couch playing video games staying up for hours before passing out. Sometimes Ray would catch Joel as he left and wave to the sleepy man leaving with a giant mug of coffee; Joel’s house had the permanent smell of coffee to it. Ray had come to enjoy the smell, but he wouldn’t admit that to Joel.  
Ray was staying with Joel for about three weeks when Joel came home with pizza and a movie from red box. 

“I had some splurge money,” Joel joked. 

Ray held onto that statement putting it in the back of his mind.

As the movie started Ray was on one end of the couch and Joel the other. The movie started off slow setting up a typical cop drama, Ray snorted at Joel for picking the movie type. Towards the middle Joel left the room and Ray was biting his nails eyes glued to the screen; it had picked up fast. In the distance Ray could hear the microwave spinning with a hum, then popcorn erupting from their cornels. Joel walked back in and Ray flocked over to him picking at the warm buttery snack that made his fingers slick. Ray wiped the excess butter onto his jeans before going in for more handfuls to shoveling them directly into his mouth. By the end of the movie Ray was jumping on Joel pointing at the TV in disbelieve about what had happened on the screen. 

Joel shrugged, “He never would have gotten that conviction in real life. The evidence was taken without a warrant; it would have been thrown out.” 

Ray rolled his eyes, “You’re just jealous cause you couldn’t solve it.” 

“I solved it with in the first ten minutes,” Joel smirked eating the first handful Ray had seen him take. 

Ray was stunned for a second by that smirk. A quick breath. He lost himself and preformed a quick make up pushing Joel’s shoulder lightly. “Yea right,” Ray muttered. 

“I didn’t want to spoil it for you,” Joel laughed. 

It was the first time Joel had made a noise that wasn’t a grunt or a sigh towards Ray; Ray bit the inside of his cheek. 

Ray slept in his own bed that night; the couch smelled like Joel’s crappy cologne after the movie, it was giving Ray a headache. He tossed and turned his brain too awake, he remembered running from cops, he remembered being so close to getting caught only to slip away like he was covered in butter. Ray couldn’t just sleep; he needed his body to quit; he needed to pass out. 

The statement Joel had made about money replayed itself in Ray’s groggy brain. He’d been staying with Joel for almost a month, just some thug who broke into the wrong home. Joel had been feeding, clothing, and entertaining Ray when he must have been used to only making money for one person. Ray knew what had to be done.  
Slipping into his checkered vans that were duck taped together Ray pulled his hoodie over his head and started walking before the sun or Joel had fully risen. Ray psyched himself up as he walked deeper into the city; he hoped he hadn’t lost his touch. 

“What the fuck is this?” were the first words from Joel’s mouth when he got home. 

Ray kept tapping away on his 3DS, “What’s what?” 

“This!” 

Ray looked up; Joel had found the stack of cash on the counter. 

“Rent,” Ray shrugged shifting on the couch.

“Where the fuck did you get that?” Joel pointed to the DS. 

“I bought it,” Ray rolled his eyes. 

“With what money?” 

“My money,” Ray snapped. 

“You don’t work!” Joel shouted. 

“I kind of had to work for it,” Ray closed his DS. 

“Did you steal this?” Joel’s eyes narrowed. 

“Not all from one person,” Ray shrugged, “No one’s gonna miss a couple of bucks.” 

“You don’t know that,” Joel shook his head. 

Ray stood from the couch, “I don’t see what you’re so mad about I got you some extra cash.” 

“You stole it, that’s against the fucking law Ray!”

Ray’s eyes narrowed his hands balled into fists, “You gonna turn me in?”

Joel said nothing and Ray stomped past him back to his room. 

Ray angrily tapped on his 3DS grumbling under his breath, Joel was an idiot, Ray had helped him. Joel didn’t fucking know anything; rules had to be broken to get results. It was the only way Ray knew how to help; his tapping paused; he wiped his eyes. Stealing was the only fucking thing he was good at, that and shooting, but Joel didn’t need to know that. Ray could only hurt to help. 

Two hours went by and Ray could hear Joel moving around the house, his 3DS had died and he left the charger downstairs.

There was a knock at the door. 

Answering it Ray found a bowl of ice cream and his charger on the floor at his feet. Ray ate the ice cream in the dark accepting Joel’s apology; Ray knew he should have been the one apologizing. 

Sometime later Ray was caught red handed hot boxing in the bathroom. He had managed to keep his habbit under wraps, but Joel got home early that day. Ray got chewed out, Joel talked down to him like a child, and Ray could feel the heat in his face his high ruined. 

Ray stepped towards Joel who was standing in the doorway, “You gonna turn me in?” 

Joel plucked the joint from Ray’s fingers and opened a window.

Ray stomped to his room to play games and sulk; until the ice cream came.

Day’s had started to blend together; Ray wasn’t sure how long it had been, over a month for sure. At least he knew it was a Friday, but only because Joel had texted him asking what kind of movie he wanted, and Friday was movie night. Ray was in the process of taking the cushions off the couch and arranging them differently when he heard the front door open. He poked his head out into the hallway catching Joel’s attention. 

“What are you doing?” Joel asked shaking his head. 

“Making a fort,” Ray noticed Joel’s lips curving up. “Wanna help?” 

“How old are you again?” Joel smiled.

Ray rolled his eyes but couldn’t hide the smile on his face when Joel took off his tie. 

“Where do you want these?” Joel asked holding the cushions. 

The night was spent in the fort they had put up together watching another movie Joel had brought home. Laying there Ray’s eyes wandered over to Joel whose dark eyes were glued to the TV. In the faint glow Joel’s eyes looked like gems; Ray’s heart began to stutter. He knew he was in love. 

The night after Ray came to his realization his brain decided to play a cruel trick. It was pouring down rain and thunder shook the house to its core, a rare occurrence in the hot summer of Los Santos; a good thunderstorm. Ray was tossing and turning, his room was too humid, he was scared, he hated the thunder; it made him think of those nights before. He rolled right off the bed to the hardwood floor smacking himself awake; or to a more awake state. 

Ray pulled himself off the floor, his brain in a haze. He opened his door and walked down the hall surprised by his clumsiness bumping into things that shouldn’t have been there, he knew this place like the back of his hand. 

The door creaked open at the end of the hallway where it had always been. The room was messier than he remembered; he still made his way to the side of the bed always left open for him. Ray crawled into the king-sized bed snuggling beside a body comfort washing over him. 

“Ray!” the person in bed next to him woke up with a start. 

Ray sat up slowly confused and disoriented in the dark room.

“What the fuck are you doing in here? Why aren’t you in your own room?” 

“You know I don’t like thunderstorms,” Ray yawned. 

“No I didn’t,” The voice snapped back. 

“Yes you did!” Ray was now sitting up. “You know everything!”

The man was silent. 

“Ryan you’re such an asshole!” Ray laid back down turning away from the man.

“Ray,” the man whispered, “Whose Ryan?” 

Ray’s eyes shot open and he scrambled out of bed getting caught in the covers tumbling down to the floor. 

“Holy crap, are you okay!” Joel looked down at Ray from the edge of the bed. 

Ray cupped a hand over his mouth shaking his head slightly; he could feel the tears pricking his eyes. 

“Fuck,” Ray whispered. 

The tears weren’t hurt from falling off the bed; it was hurt on the inside that had been eating away at him dying to be let out. His body was shaking as he picked himself up. 

“He’s nobody,” Ray forced the words to fall from his wobbling lips. 

“Doesn’t sound like,” 

Ray left hurrying to his room before Joel could finish the sentence. 

The old routine had started again; Ray cried refusing to leave bed, food left outside his door. Ray didn’t even eat. 

On the second day the door opened and Joel came in unannounced with a plate, “You’ve gotta eat something.” 

Ray watched the wall. 

“Please,” Joel sat on the bed, “You’re scaring me.” 

“I miss him so fucking much,” Ray’s lips were dry, “I miss them all,” his voice cracked in sync with his heart. 

“The Fake AH Crew,” Joel whispered the name. 

Ray turned his head, “How did you,”  
“I did some digging after the other night, you’re Ray Navaez Junior, or Brownman aren’t you?” 

Ray nodded. 

Joel’s slender finger ran through Ray’s hair making him shiver. Ray grabbed Joel’s hand placing it on his cheek nuzzling against the soft skin; he didn’t want to feel so alone. 

“Everyone left me,” Ray whispered, “When do you disappear too?” 

Joel said nothing staying planted on the edge of the bed his hand never leaving Ray’s cheek. 

In his head Ray remembered everything like it all happened yesterday; what would be wrong with telling the story?  
“I spent a week on my own before,” Ray cleared his throat, “Wouldn’t have even thought about breaking into houses then. I’d always been a straight laced kid, and I always planned on it. I had odd jobs all my life to help support my family, and I figured moving to the city I could find better work and make more money. It’s true what they say though, Los Santos eats you up and leaves you to rot. My first night in I was mugged for all the money I had saved up to move, I refused to go home a failure already, so I stayed trying to make the best of it. Geoff found me sleeping on the sidewalk in a thunderstorm, he bought me a hotdog. I followed him home after that like the stray I was to 636 where I would live for way longer than expected.” Ray smiled, “I meant to spend a couple days, and I stayed for years.” Ray paused again sifting through memories like photos to get to the important part, the end. “Geoff talked about pulling off a huge heist, it was supposed to be the last one, and we were supposed to be fifthly rich. It never happened; Geoff got nabbed. Without our fearless leader we were stunned.”

Joel nodded knowingly, “I heard Ramsey went to prison, Pattillo too.”

“Yea, Jack went to scope out the area for a rescue mission,” Ray’s smile was sideways, “Bet he stopped to pet the guard dogs. Gavin cried for days; the house felt empty with two people gone. I thought we would get them back in no time, I wish I had seen us falling apart faster so I could have left. Michael said he was sick of sitting on his ass, he actually found a real job, a fucking electrician. Gavin followed him the day Michael announced his departure; Gavin would follow him anywhere. That left me with Ryan.” 

“Right, the mysterious man I became the other night,” Joel nodded.

Ray couldn’t stop the tears hot and fat rolling down his cheeks falling into Joel’s palm, “He was all I had left to cling to. Ryan fucking promised! He said he wasn’t going to leave! Not without me!” Ray felt like he couldn’t breathe, “I heard the motorcycle start; I ran as fast as I could to the front door, I watched the tail lights disappear. I stayed in 636 hoping someone would come back, anyone. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore; I walked into empty rooms just to double check. That’s how I ended up here staring down the barrel of your gun. I pictured myself going to jail and I couldn’t, that’s why I begged you to pull the trigger; I was sick of being alone. I count days because I wonder when you’ll leave me too.” 

The room was silent again Ray biting his lip as the tears falling from his eyes slowed in numbers and force. 

“Are you gonna turn me in?” Ray asked with a scratchy throat. 

 

Joel ran his fingers through Ray’s hair, and he knew Joel would never turn him in.  
Ray didn’t worry about dates anymore, except for the ones he planned with Joel after work. He finally got a job too; he was a criminal and sometimes it took one to know one. Ray had been working on the people reading skills he had picked up from his old crew and put them to better use. Standing behind the mirrored glass Ray gave Joel instructions on how to break someone wide open during interrogation. He was also keeping his sniping skills form getting rusty when Joel allowed him time at the shooting range, they joked about Ray moving on to FBI. Ray said they would book him before they hired.The night no longer brought so many terrors and Ray found his peaceful sleeping spot next to Joel whose arms were draped around his waist. Joel was the solid foundation his breathing steady, Ray matched him for breath his heart calming, his eyes closing. 

It took a long time; it took massive heartache; but Ray wasn’t afraid of waking up alone.


End file.
